Numerous publications tell the story of a football goalkeeper who was accidentally left on the field by his teammates after a match on a foggy day. We checked whether this episode was actually captured in the photograph that is often included with such materials.

The story of a goalkeeper forgotten on the field, along with this photograph, can be found in several public pages on VKontakte with an audience of over a million subscribers: History Porn, "Rhymes and Punch", "Leprosy" etc. Similar materials were published by users of other social networks and blog platforms, including Facebook, Pikabu, "Yandex.Zen" And LiveJournal. A note on the Maxim magazine website about this episode called: "The Story of a Photograph: A Match in the London Fog, 1937."

Surprisingly, the story about the goalkeeper forgotten on the field due to fog is true. At the end of 1937, Chelsea players hosted Charlton Athletic at London's Stamford Bridge stadium. During the match, such thick fog descended on the field that the game had to be canceled midway through the second half. The referees and players did not tell Charlton goalkeeper Sam Bartram about this, and he remained on the field for another 15 minutes until the police found the athlete.

Bartram remembered in his autobiography, quotes from which ESPN published: “The referee stopped the game, and then, when visibility became better, he resumed it. We were good and I saw fewer and fewer pieces as we constantly attacked. I paced back and forth along the goal line, glad that the Chelsea players were blocked in their own half of the field. <...> It is obvious, however, that we could not send the ball into the goal, because the players did not return back as if they had scored. Time passed, and I approached the edge of the penalty area several times, but the fog became denser and denser every minute. Still nothing was visible. <…> After a long time, a figure appeared from behind the curtain of fog. It was a policeman who stared at me in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing here?” he gasped. “The game was stopped a quarter of an hour ago, the field is completely empty!” When I made my way to the dressing room, the rest of the Charlton players, already washed and changed, were bursting with laughter.”

In addition to Bartram’s own recollections, press reports also confirm what happened. Our colleagues from the authoritative fact-checking project Snopes discovered several notes on this topic, published at the end of December 1937. Associated Press report reprinted and outside England - they are practically no different from what was later told by the footballer himself.

At the same time, the photograph, which is often published along with a description of this funny episode, has nothing to do with it. In the photo imprinted Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Kelsey during a game against Aston Villa in January 1954. That match was also canceled due to too much fog interfering with the game, but Kelce left the field with his teammates.